Incompertus
by skyjewel
Summary: There is a side to Hermione's life that no one has ever suspected. The secrets she holds have been hidden from even her 'best friends'. But when an old friend shows up, how long can she maintain the facade? Pairing is undecided; will be put to a vote.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

***

Moonlight filtered softly through the window, illuminating her tear-streaked face. Outside, winds rustled through the leaves and crept silently into the room. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as she shivered, the movement dislodging another tear. She watched as it fell onto the wooden desk where her elbow rested, shattering into a myriad of crystalline droplets.

Lifting her head from her hand, she watched in morbid fascination as the dark sleeve of her robe slid slowly down her forearm, flowing over the ivory white skin. Letting her arm fall onto the desk a patch of silvery moonlight clearly illuminated the large, silver-black skull and writhing green-black snake.

Storm clouds began to obscure the moon's silvery light, throwing the room into complete darkness. Clenching her fist, she angrily pulled her sleeve roughly back down her arm, hiding the terrible sight. Another shiver ran through her body and she hugged herself, leaning back into the old-fashioned chair and drawing her knees up to her chest. The smooth patter of rain began to invade her senses and before she realised, her head was drooping and her eyes were closing.

_Red! _

_Red eyes and laughter, _

_And cold._

_A flash of green, sickening; bile rose in her throat. _

_Silence,_

_Breathing,_

_A scream..._

Tearing herself from the nightmare, her eyes snapped open. A choked gasp ripped through her throat, only her ragged breathing was heard in the room for several minutes. Her fingers ran through her silky, dark brown curtain of hair, clutching it as if it were the ropes holding her to life itself.

"Arielle?" a familiar voice questioned her from the darkness. She felt the stir of another presence in the room as the figure crossed the wooden floor boards and stood behind her.

"Arielle?" the question was repeated, betraying deeper concern than before. A hand gently rested on her shoulder as the owner patiently waited for her to calm.

Arielle sighed. Such guilt had been plaguing her since that fateful night. Everything had changed, everyone had gone. She knew what she had to do now, but how could she ever find the strength to do it?

As if sensing her thoughts, the figure behind her squeezed in beside her and sat down with her on the chair. Arielle felt warm arms wrapping around her and for the first time in a week, relaxed into the embrace. Neither figure moved or said a word until the first pinkish hints of dawn could be seen on the horizon.

"Thanks Hermione." The words were barely above a whisper but both girls knew what had been said.

A subtle click of the lock on the front door alerted them to another presence within the household. Gathering herself together Arielle carefully stood and shakily made her way over to one of the many beds in the room, Hermione's gaze never leaving her. A large trunk lay open on the covers. Many books, clothes and potions ingredients were packed neatly inside. On top rested a sleek silver-black broomstick and what looked like a diary with a silver cheetah on the cover.

After carefully scrutinizing the contents of the trunk, Arielle headed over to a bedside table. The drawers were empty and sticking out at odd angles, however on top rested an elegant photo frame. Without glancing at the photo inside, she gently took it over to the trunk and placed it face down on top of the neatly folded robes.

Closing her trunk and clicking the locks into place, neither Arielle nor Hermione looked up as another person entered the room. Taking in the sight before him, only his lingering glance at Hermione betrayed any hint of his surprise. The newcomer soon headed over to a bed on the opposite side of the room and lifted an already packed trunk out from under the mattress.

"I thought as much" his voice came out as a raspy whisper, "what now?"

Arielle's sigh spoke of total and utter defeat. "Hogwarts"

***

**A/N:** so... any good?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

***

Hermione had to laugh. Slipping away from the Weasley's really had been too easy, even with all their extra security measures. Apparating back at the Burrow just after dawn, she deftly slipped inside making her way up to her shared room with Ginny and no one was any the wiser that she had ever left.

Lying back down on her bed she allowed herself to relax for the first time since she had heard the news a week ago. After finally showing his face at the Ministry last year, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had disappeared from Britain all together, not that any of the British wizarding community would believe such news. Hermione, however, knew better; the Dark Lord had a greater prize in his sights. Germany had been the first target, a ruthless attack landing on a secret wizarding society within Luxemburg. From there the attacks spread south down the European continent, but with the British Ministry still keeping a rather tight lid on things, no outside news was coming into the country. The new minister didn't want to raise panic.

However, the worst attack so far had occurred in Australia; Hermione's homeland. Hermione snorted when she thought about it. Not even Dumbledore knew of her life before Hogwarts. Now she believed if the truth were told no one would believe it. It hadn't been that hard to fake a British accent after all.

Hermione sighed, shifting on her mattress. She was worried about Arielle; the only real friend she had who knew each and every one of her secrets. Arielle was not ok, but at least she was finally coming to Hogwarts where Hermione could keep an eye on her.

Glancing across the room, her gaze rested for a moment on Ginny. Deciding she was still deeply asleep, Hermione let herself close her eyes and joined her in the land of nod. She would need her energy for the day to come.

***

Hermione sighed as Harry finally settled into his seat beside her in the Great Hall. It had been one of _those_ days, just as she had expected. Trying to keep her mind on the job, she had had a tough time concentrating on the long train ride to Hogwarts. Just knowing that Arielle was sitting in one of those compartments was enough to distract her from her prefect duties.

She had done what she could for one of her oldest friends; however, even she had no idea how to reassemble a girl who had literally been torn to pieces by this war. A war that was far more devastating and dangerous than anyone in Britain, even Harry, could comprehend.

Her mind had wandered so completely that she had even lost track of Harry for a time. It had been such an inconceivable act of stupidity that she knew she would berate herself for weeks to come. She had let Malfoy attack him. Who knew what would have happened if Tonks hadn't found him?

Giving herself a mental slap on the wrist she pulled herself together. She would just have to re-adjust to protecting two people instead of one.

She brought herself back to the present just in time to hear Dumbledore announce the arrival of two sixth year transfer students. Following the gaze of the rest of the school, she desperately tried to hide a smile as the entire Great Hall fell into silence upon their entrance. Quite apart from their grace and posture which simply screamed pureblood upbringing and wealth, they were easily two of the most stunningly beautiful people in the hall.

On the left strode a tall and clearly well-muscled youth. He gave the impression to those around him of an overgrown wolf. His blond hair was streaked with dark brown and flew wildly around a well tanned face due to the fast pace at which he approached the staff table. A clear sense of raw power radiated from him, and his sharp liquid amber gaze left no doubt in anyone's mind that this was not someone to mess with.

However Hermione's attention quickly transferred, along with the attentions of every other male in the Great Hall, to the slightly shorter figure striding beside the youth. A curtain of sleek dark brown hair flowed gracefully behind the porcelain features of the most beautiful girl Hermione had ever known. Her ivory skin glowed in the candlelight contrasted by the deep black robes which billowed around her revealing a rather slender figure. Despite this, she easily kept up with the powerful youth beside her.

Both had their attention directed determinedly at Professor McGonagall, shabby hat in hand, whose widened eyes betrayed a great deal of surprise. However, as they passed the sixth years seated at the Slytherin table, the focus of Arielle's attention shifted. Arielle's clear silver eyes stared directly into the mirror image of Malfoy's. Even from Hermione's seat across the Great Hall, the energy between them was tangible. Hermione hid her surprise as she realised with a start that Harry had been right in his suspicions about Malfoy. Not that she was going to tell him that.

As suddenly as it had come, Arielle's attention shifted away from Malfoy as she resumed staring directly ahead. Hermione saw him nervously pull at the edges of his sleeves, further confirming her realisation. The two students now stood before Professor McGonagall, patiently waiting to be sorted, however the Professor seemed to have forgotten herself. She stared intently at both of them as if trying to piece together a particularly difficult puzzle. After a rather awkward pause, a light cough from the centre of the high table seemed to bring her back to her present duty.

Unrolling a scroll which was comically short when compared to the scroll containing the first years' names, she eyed them once more before beginning the sorting.

"Stevenson, Arielle"

Arielle ascended the stairs before her with a cat-like grace to stand in front of Professor McGonagall. Carefully ignoring the tiny stool upon which the first years normally sat, she gave the Professor stare for stare until McGonagall whipped out her wand in a rather irritated movement and conjured a miniature stool upon which she could stand to place the hat on Arielle's head. Hermione, along with most of the Slytherins, she noticed, could not suppress an amused grin at Arielle's cheek.

McGonagall, now standing upon the stool, prepared to place the hat on Arielle's head, however the hat was still a foot above Arielle's head when it suddenly let out a deafening shriek.

"SLYTHERIN!"

A wave of whispers swept through the hall as students betrayed their complete shock at the clearly unexpected outcome. Hermione catching Arielle's eye gave her a nearly imperceptible nod and slight smile. The outcome had not surprised her in the least.

Ignoring the whispers and the stir she had created, Arielle calmly descended the stairs and headed towards the Slytherin table. However she stopped near the head of the table and stood, clearly waiting for the sorting of the youth.

After giving her a rather irritated frown, McGonagall returned her attention to the wolfishly hansom boy. Hermione could clearly sense the Professor's unease as she called out a rather high pitched

"Greyback, Edouard"

Most students did not bother to lower their voices this time as the silence was once more disturbed by an outbreak of surprised exclamations.

"Greyback? As in Fenir Greyback?" Harry whispered from beside her.

Seamus, however, could be heard all the way down the table. "He's a Slytherin for sure! No wonder she's waiting..."

"What's Dumbledore playing at, letting him in the school?" Ron, too, did not bother to lower his voice. "He's probably a werewolf too! Just look at him..."

"Ron, Professor Lupin was a werewolf" Hermione reprimanded, slightly irritated at her friend's callous remark. Ron's red cheeks reflected his embarrassment as he mumbled a response Hermione was too preoccupied to hear.

The wild speculations continued as Edouard ascended the stairs with obvious ease, even the least observant in the Great Hall could no longer have failed to notice his aura of power. McGonagall, still standing on the stool, looked positively frightened as she once more lowered the hat, however, this time the hat made it all the way resting on his head for a few seconds before

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Ha, no surprises there!" Ron laughed darkly.

"You don't suppose he's actually related to Fenir though?" Harry asked again.

Hermione allowed herself a small smirk before replying. "Not directly, no."

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

***

Later that night, Arielle smiled as she sat down beside Hermione. Many would have been at a loss as to where to look for the renowned bookworm, had she been discovered missing from the girl's dormitory this late at night. Arielle, however, having grown up with her, had no problem finding her by a secluded part of the lake.

Hermione smiled too, "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to speak on the train."

Arielle turned to look at her, "I didn't expect we would. You mustn't go out of your way to accommodate us now we're here. We'll manage."

"I wasn't referring to Edouard. It's you I'm worried about"

Arielle frowned, "Hermione I don't think it wise for people to find out about our friendship. It will lead to too many questions and too much suspicion. You are in far too delicate a position to risk any of that."

Hermione sighed, she should have known. Arielle put the job first, she always had, and unlike Hermione she had the ability to separate her duty and her emotions. It was a useful skill to have with their responsibilities, especially when lives depended on their secrets being kept.

"I know. You're right." Hermione bit her lip. Arielle may be right, but she didn't like it. "Well if it's the job we're focussing on, where are all the others?" She cringed inwardly, her words having come out much sharper than intended.

It didn't faze Arielle though, as she recited what she knew of their Australian acquaintances. "I know Asch and Jaisen are hiding out somewhere in Europe. They're trying to complete the joining of their magic."

Hermione blinked in surprise, "I thought they'd given up on that. It's far too dangerous!"

"It is dangerous." Arielle conceded, "But they're willing to risk it. Together they could beat the Avada Kedavra curse." Arielle's voice dropped to a whisper, "They could save people from death." At that thought a single tear trickled down Arielle's cheek.

Hermione sighed, they were back to _that night _again. "Arielle, no one could have done anything to save Mae. Once Voldemort had her..."

"But I should have been able to do something Hermione!" Arielle insisted, "She was my responsibility. Just like Harry is yours."

Hermione sat in silence for a while. Unknown to anyone within Hogwarts, Hermione had long ago been charged with the responsibility of protecting Harry Potter. That had been the reason Hermione had insisted on hanging around him in their first year, leading to their eventual friendship, and, of course, the reason Hermione currently resided in Gryffindor. The same fault in the Hat's make-up that had allowed Harry to become a Gryffindor had allowed Hermione to do the same. Had the Hat known how manipulative and cunning she would grow to be over the years, she would never have been able to _choose_ Gryffindor.

Thinking back to all her other Australian acquaintances she inquired next about the little boy who had almost never left Mae's side, "Joey?"

"Joey's back at The Lodge." Arielle replied blankly.

Hermione felt an unexpected burst of homesickness at the mention of the place she used to live. Now that Arielle was here she had a constant reminder of just how much she had left behind. "He was Mae's best friend wasn't he?"

Arielle ran a hand through her hair, "He shouldn't have to deal with this. They were so young."

"You can hardly be suggesting we would have been better off as orphans?" Hermione whispered.

"No," Arielle acknowledged, "we're all extremely lucky, but..."

Hermione nodded, knowing Arielle was thinking the same thing, "It's the price we pay."

Hermione watched as Arielle absent-mindedly rubbed her forearm. "So what's the deal with Malfoy?"

Arielle shrugged, slowly removing her hand from her forearm, "Voldemort marked him, and now I'm here to find out why."

"Yes I knew that," Hermione acknowledged, "but was he marked willingly?"

Arielle shook her head, "No, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sense the connection."

"You know, Harry is convinced Malfoy is a Death Eater, even though he has no proof."

"Really?" Arielle looked marginally surprised, "Maybe he's more observant than we thought he was."

"Maybe," Although Hermione thought it was more likely due to Harry's paranoia. "At least he's open to the possibility, whereas the Order is convinced Voldemort would never mark a sixteen year old."

"Dumbledore's Order?" Arielle scoffed, "What a bunch of pot-headed old fools"

Hermione grinned, "They're not that bad, just..."

"Idiots"

"I was going to say uneducated" Hermione finished.

"Fine," Arielle raised her eyebrows in an expression that clearly stated _that's no excuse._ "Uneducated idiots"

Hermione smiled; this was the first small flash of the girl she remembered. The stubborn-minded, mischievous one she had known growing up.

Hermione didn't want to spoil the good mood, but she had more questions that needed to be asked, "Are there a lot of unwilling Death Eaters out there?"

"Only two"

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered

Arielle shook her head; she wouldn't accept Hermione's pity. It wouldn't help.

As fewer and fewer lights could be seen lighting up the windows of Hogwarts, Hermione's thoughts returned to her Australian friends. "Do you know anything about Ben and Aleks?" She questioned tentatively.

She was watching Arielle carefully. Arielle for her part didn't move, but Hermione could see a rage of conflicting emotions reflected in her silver eyes. "They're tracking down some Death Eaters who could expose us. I have no idea where they are." She managed to reply in a monotone, but Hermione knew there was something Arielle wasn't telling her. Something else must have happened the night Voldemort attacked, but she knew that she wouldn't be finding out what it was tonight.

***


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

***

The next morning rolled around much too fast for many of the students' liking. Despite her midnight escapade the night before, Hermione still arrived in the Great Hall long before the boys.

She was reading the Daily Prophet when Harry and Ron finally arrived. "Morning," she greeted them, trying to seem cheerful, but only received two grunts in reply. Hermione placed the paper down, sighing in irritation at the boys.

Ron glanced up, having mistaking the reason for her sigh. His eyes were wary "Anything we should know about?" he nodded towards the discarded paper.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied rather curtly. "Ok, well I'm going to drop by the library before class. See you later." Hermione stood before any questions could be asked.

"But, Hermione! Classes haven't even started yet! We don't have any homework!" Ron protested, his mouth full of sausage.

Hermione's grip on her bag tightened almost imperceptibly with irritation, as she continued to make her way out of the Hall, ignoring Ron. Did he really think homework was all she was good for?

"McGonagall hasn't even handed out timetables yet!" Ron continued his protesting to Harry.

Hermione silently scoffed at Ron. Honestly, how did he expect McGonagall to give him his timetable when he wasn't there?

Unnoticed by either of the boys, silver eyes had been watching the entire scene from across the Hall. Arielle also stood as Hermione disappeared through the double doors.

"Off to class already?" Theo raised his eyebrows at the intriguing new girl. "You haven't even eaten anything."

"You need not worry about getting lost." Draco smiled, attempting to charm her. "We're perfectly capable of showing you the way."

Arielle glared at him, finding herself far from charmed. "I'm _perfectly capable_ of finding my own way to class _Malfoy_." She replied icily. With that she swept out of the Hall, leaving the rather stunned Slytherins behind. Little did they suspect where she was headed.

***

Towards the back of the library, in a secluded alcove, Hermione was waiting for her.

"You have your timetable?" she questioned

"Picked it up from The... _Professor Snape_ this morning" Arielle replied grinning at her slip-up.

Hermione smirked in a distinctly Un-Gryfindorish way. "Takes some getting used to, doesn't it?"

"It's uncomfortable. Professor Snape just seems so... _personal_." Arielle cringed

"And you'd rather remain as impersonal to Snape as possible."

"Who wouldn't? The prospect of getting personal with that old bat is just..." Arielle shuddered.

Hermione attempted to stifle her laughter rather unsuccessfully. "Right. Well let's see your timetable then."

The girls barely had to glance at the timetables to assess that they were identical.

8:00 – 9:00 Transfiguration

9:00 – 10:00 Charms

10:00 – 10:30 Morning Tea

10:30 – 11:30 Ancient Runes

11:30 – 12:30 Potions

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 Defence Against the Dark Arts

2:30 – 3:30 Herbology

* 11:00pm – 12:00pm Astronomy (Wednesday & Saturday)

Arielle frowned, "I didn't think we'd have quite so many classes together."

Hermione laughed, "Ha, that's only because not enough students get the required OWL to continue in most subjects."

"Are normal wizards really that hopeless?" Arielle looked slightly shocked

Hermione looked at her sadly, "Their lives don't depend on being able to perform magic"

Arielle was silent, avoiding Hermione's gaze.

"You know, it's only because of you that I finally get to take astronomy this year." Hermione commented, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Arielle frowned "They didn't let you take it before?"

"No, I was the only student who wanted to." She admitted

"Idiots," Arielle muttered. "Don't they have any idea how useful it is?"

Hermione laughed "At times this place seems magically backwards compared to what we're used to."

Arielle smiled grimly. "I still can't believe how much free time we have. What do the students do with it all?"

"Not much that could be considered constructive."

Arielle snorted, but quickly quietened as the girls sensed another presence approaching. Edouard poked his head around the corner. "You ready?" His amber eyes flashed as he glanced sharply at Hermione, "Class starts soon."

"Don't worry about _me_ Edouard" Arielle snapped, "I won't raise any suspicions by being late." She brushed roughly past him, "I'll be at class before you!"

Hermione sighed, "Can't you give her a break? She's doing her best," Edouard frowned at her as she continued, "Listen, things are going to change around here. You merely being here has already assured that. We won't be able to hide forever."

"That's no reason for you two to be careless. Anyone could have seen you!" With that Edouard too, stormed out of the library.

Hermione ran her fingers through her tangled hair. She was sick of keeping secrets, but what other choice did she have? Any form of friendship between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin was unheard of, regardless of the reason. If their friendship was discovered, what would stop her entire undercover life from being revealed?

***


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

***

Just as she had promised, Arielle was ready and seated by the time Edouard and Hermione arrived at Transfiguration. Despite their previous argument, Edouard took a seat right next to her, while Hermione sat a little further away. After all, she couldn't be seen sitting with Slytherins now, could she?

Out of the corner of her eye she could already see the irritable looking tabby cat perched on the edge of McGonagall's desk, the distinctive circles around its eyes giving away its identity.

As usual Harry and Ron were the last to arrive, sliding into their seats next to Hermione just in time for the start of class. For once Hermione ignored their late arrival, keeping her eyes fixed on the tabby.

"Doesn't she ever get tired of it?" Hermione asked. The question directed at no one in particular.

Surprisingly, Ron actually caught on to her train of thought, "What, McGonagall?"

"The first class of every year!" Hermione complained, "It's getting rather tiresome."

Ron blinked at her "S'pose it's meant to... inspire?"

"It's just an animagus transformation."

Harry and Ron were now looking at Hermione as if she had sprouted another head. Both boys had always believed Professor McGonagall to be Hermione's idol. Never before had Hermione spoken a single word against the Professor. Hermione sighed; this double life was already getting harder to maintain than she thought it would. She would have to watch herself.

After McGonagall's predictable transformation, their first lesson of the year consisted entirely of revision. As usual Hermione was the only one who paid attention to McGonagall's lecture, or at least she seemed to be paying attention. She had, in fact, learnt everything they had practiced in fifth year several years ago, before she had even come to Hogwarts. So instead, she was discretely watching Arielle doodle on the corner of her paper.

Hermione was entranced; Arielle had always been an amazing artist. Rather than drawing with her quill as one might expect, she was drawing with her wand, holding it as if it were a quill. Instead of ink, however, Hermione knew she was using raw magic to shape the squiggles and loops which filled the page.

"Miss Stevenson!" Professor McGonagall had finally caught on that Arielle wasn't paying attention. Arielle's shoulders slumped slightly as she let out an inaudible sigh before meeting the Professor's glare with a very convincing innocent expression. McGonagall blinked, looking a bit put-off. "Since you have been paying so much attention, you can demonstrate our next spell to the class."

"As you will remember students, the last spell we were working on before the summer break was the transformation of a turnip into a toad. I trust not _too_ many of you have forgotten it." She glared at the class, while placing a turnip on Arielle's desk. "Miss Stevenson, if you will."

Hermione grinned; it was a spell both of them could perform, wordlessly and wandlessly in their sleep. She watched as Arielle, still looking bored, lazily waved her wand and said the incantation "Transus Verto"

In a flash of green light the turnip was gone, replaced by a rather hansom (in toad standards, of course) looking toad wearing a crown on its head. Much to McGonagall's obvious displeasure many of the students laughed.

"What was the incantation you used?" McGonagall questioned her, "It's not the same one we use here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Professor," Arielle was once again the picture of innocence, "It was Transus Verto."

McGonagall's lips disappeared into a thin line, "We don't use the 'Transus' incantation until seventh year here."

"Oh, really?" Arielle continued to feign innocence, "In Australia they teach it in your _first_ year. It prevents later confusion." Hermione smirked; Arielle hadn't mentioned that their first year had begun at the age of five. Honestly, _muggles_ didn't wait until their children were eleven to educate them, why should wizards?

McGonagall frowned, obviously torn between awarding Slytherin points for a perfectly performed spell and putting Arielle in a week's worth of detentions for daring undermine her teaching authority.

"Ten points to Slytherin" she managed to force out rather stiffly, before angrily banishing the toad.

***

"Brilliant!" Hermione whispered over the din of the Charms classroom.

Arielle smirked, "Someone's got to put McGonagall in her place."

"About time too," Hermione agreed. She'd been getting tired with their Professor's stubborn mindedness about the way things _should_ be done.

Thankfully with all the other students thoroughly occupied with trying to conjure water out of thin air, Hermione and Arielle were unnoticed at the back of the room.

"Tonight's the full moon," Arielle whispered, glancing at Edouard, "You coming?"

Hermione's eyes widened with excitement, "Where?"

Arielle shrugged, "Edouard thinks the forbidden forest looks nice"

"Seriously?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Only Edouard could find a treacherous forest teaming with dark and dangerous creatures _nice_"

Arielle snorted.

Spotting Harry and Ron struggling with the charm, Hermione sighed. "Well I'd better go make my move before I'm missed."

Arielle mock-saluted her, "I'm not one to stand in the way of a genius" she said as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ron, it's _Agua_-menti, not _Auga-_menti," Hermione corrected resignedly as she approached. Honestly, couldn't he read?

Predictably, Ron was red in the face from exertion. "I haven't seen you do it yet!" he retaliated.

Hermione was tempted to perform the spell wordlessly to shut him up. So, surprisingly, she did. Harry and Ron stared at her and the perfect bubble of water floating in front of her. Flitwick was just as excited as usual when he realised she had performed the spell awarding Gryffindor 15 points. Thankfully due to the noise the rest of the students were making he hadn't realised she performed it silently.

Releasing the spell, she sighed exasperatedly. "Now will you listen?" Leaving them she went back to her desk pulling out her charms book and reading chapter eight probably for the fifth time.

"Someone's been studying over the holidays," Harry mumbled to Ron

Ron shrugged, "Nothing unusual about that really, is there?"

Harry shook his head. They were completely clueless.

Preparing himself once again, Ron took a strong stance, gripping his wand firmly. "I'll get it this time," he told Harry, "AGUAMINTI!"

Hermione barely had time to react before bucket-loads of water crashed down on her, completely soaking her clothes and books.

_Agua__**men**__ti, not A__**gua**__menti, _she thought tiredly, her hair dripping onto the open pages of her book. Suddenly, she couldn't wait for tonight's full moon. Perhaps Edouard was right. A nice long run in a dark and dangerous forest would do her good.

Harry, however, was hiding a grin. "Well," he shrugged, "it's a start."

***


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

***

Hermione was still angry with Ron as she made her way to her next class, but really, there was nothing unusual about that now, was there?

His incessant excuses for the Charms mishap had continued all throughout morning break, really grating on her nerves. 'His wand was malfunctioning' and 'Malfoy had distracted him' and, Hermione's favourite, 'it was a stupid spell anyway'. Honestly, that boy could come up for a million and one excuses for almost anything, and why did he bother learning magic if it was so stupid? A simple 'sorry' would have perhaps softened Hermione's anger towards him, but of course apologising was _beneath_ the hot-headed Weasel.

As a result, their argument had made Hermione late for Ancient Runes. Well, late by her standards anyway. She was the last one to enter the class room and on entering she heard a disappointed huff off to her right. Turning to locate the source of the sound, she found Malfoy glaring at her. He had obviously hoped, since she was late, that she wouldn't be coming at all.

She turned away from him to find a seat, only to find Arielle sitting next to the only empty seat, looking at her, eyebrows raised. A quick glance around the classroom told Hermione she was actually the only Gryffindor in the class. Everyone else was either in Slytherin or Ravenclaw.

Shrugging she went to sit by Arielle just as Professor Babbling arrived. Quickly looking the class over, the bubbly Professor grinned her usual lopsided grin. "Ah good, you're all here!" she chirped.

"Now, this year is where your study of Ancient Runes really gets exciting! Up until now we've only been using runes to translate old manuscripts and study the ancient culture of magic. Now that you know the basics though, we will begin learning how to use runes to create your very own spells!" At this she sounded positively delighted.

"So," she continued, "Take a good long look at the person sitting next to you, because they are going to be your partner in your very first assignment for this year!" At this the class let out a groan. An assignment on the very first day!

Hermione hid a smile and she sensed Arielle doing the same. She remembered the day of their very first Ancient Runes class in Australia when they had been around eight years old. A frail-looking wizard who seemed as ancient as the runes themselves had spent two hours teaching them the runes for fire, water and air. Immediately after the class, after only learning the three runic translations, they had snuck off to try to create their own spells. Their attempts had been rather unsuccessful, as they had ended up setting a gum tree on fire, and having to use the water rune to put it out. Surprisingly it had worked, and they hadn't been found out, though till this day the trunk of that particular tree remained blackened and charred.

"Your assignment will be," here Professor Babbling paused for dramatic effect, "to successfully create your very own spell!"

Hermione and Arielle shared a glance. "Well Edouard will be happy," Arielle whispered while managing to look like she was ignoring Hermione all together, "we now have a reason to study together."

Hermione, too, looked indifferent towards Arielle as she opened her Rune Dictionary, "I don't know Edouard very well," she admitted, indeed he had been a fairly recent addition to her Australian acquaintances, "What exactly is his problem?"

Arielle sighed, looking serious, "His sister was doing an undercover job in Germany, back when he attended Durmstrang" Arielle's voice dropped below a whisper, "Her identity was discovered and she was almost killed." She glanced at Hermione's frown, "I guess he's just trying to protect us."

"What was her assignment?" Hermione asked, glancing at Professor Babbling, who was predictably babbling away to Edouard and Blaise about the time she had confused the rune for moon with the one for vine and had ended up dangling from the ceiling, a vine wrapped around her ankle.

"The same as the Half-Blood Prince" Arielle replied, seeming more interested in the scribbles she was once again drawing on the edge of her parchment.

Hermione, putting two and two together, couldn't stop another small frown creasing her forehead as she realised Edouard's sister had been an undercover Death Eater. "Voldemort?"

Arielle jerked her head once in conformation. "She and Edouard were on the run for a year before they found us."

Hermione glanced across the classroom at Edouard, a new respect in her eyes. Sensing her gaze, Edouard turned in his seat. He nodded once at her and Hermione returned the gesture before he turned away once more. _We're all just trying to protect one another aren't we? _She thought tiredly.

***

Hermione cringed as she turned the corner, entering the hallway that led to the Potions classroom. She had been quite comfortable in the Slytherin-Ravenclaw Ancient Runes class, and the rowdy Gryffindor crowd that she suddenly found herself immersed in was an unwelcome shock to the system.

She found it a pity that Snape had been forced to take more students since only five students achieved an O for their potions owl. The class now contained those who had achieved Es, which of course meant Harry and Ron.

Thankfully the arrival of Professor Snape did much to ease her discomfort as the Gryffindors didn't dare raise their voices above a whisper in his presence. He also immediately had them working on what Hermione considered a fairly tricky potion which, since she had decided to do it from memory, demanded enough of her attention to keep her mind from wondering to the irritating red-head next to her.

So it was that the first Potions class of the year passed rather uneventfully, Gryffindor only managing to lose 30 points, since Harry and Ron hadn't bought their potions equipment. Even though it was one of the lowest losses on record, it didn't stop Ron and Harry from complaining. Actually, now that she thought about it, Hermione was still at a loss as to what exactly did stop them from complaining.

"... and what's with all the Homework?" Ron grumbled, as they entered the Great Hall for lunch, "It's only the first day!"

Hermione quickly sat and helped herself to a sandwich. She planned on a quick lunch and then a trip to the library. Sitting next to her, however, Harry was only picking at his food, a frown creasing his forehead.

"He's doing it again." He commented

"Wha'?" Ron managed to say around a mouthful of chicken.

"Malfoy," Harry replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Look at him. He's just... thinking"

"Some people do that you know," Hermione snapped, annoyed at Harry's current obsession.

"But it's not like Malfoy!" Harry protested, "He's up to something!"

"So, now everyone who thinks is up to something?" Hermione questioned, "Honestly Harry, you're being paranoid!"

Hermione actually felt a little hypocritical, especially since she knew Harry was right, but she could hardly tell them _how_ exactly she knew Malfoy _was_, in fact, a Death Eater.

"Fine," Harry grumbled.

Finishing her lunch, Hermione stood. "Well I don't know about you two but I plan on getting a good start on all that homework we have." The two boys didn't look up as she prepared to leave, "I'll be in the library"

"Mmhmm," was all she got in reply. Hermione sighed.

Making her way out of the Great Hall, she glanced at the Slytherin table. Edouard was there, talking to Draco and Blaise, but Arielle was nowhere in sight. _Odd_ Hermione thought, she could have sworn Arielle hadn't been at Morning Tea either.

Entering the library, Hermione headed straight for her favourite table hidden near the back. It was a seldom visited part of the library, so it took Hermione by surprise to find her table already occupied. Arielle didn't glance up as Hermione came into view. She merely smiled, "I really do know you too well, don't I?"

"You really do," Hermione agreed. "Not hungry?" she asked, "You weren't at lunch."

"No," Arielle replied, "thought I'd get going on all of this," indicating to the homework spread all around her.

"Oh come on," Hermione scoffed at her excuse, "you could do this in your sleep!"

"Ah, but you see, it's not going to get done while I'm asleep now is it?" Arielle questioned, pointing out the flaw in Hermione's logic.

"I suppose not," Hermione conceded with a grin, but she could feel something was not quite right with her friend as she too settled down to do her own work.

They had been studying in comfortable silence for most of the lunch break, when none other than the bane of Hermione's existence showed up.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, "What the _hell_ are you doing?" Shock was evident in his features as he took in who she was sitting with. "She's a Slytherin!" He added, as if Hermione herself could not figure that out.

Hermione was about to reply, but Arielle beat her too it. "Why don't you mind your own business Weasel!" she snapped, looking down at him as if he were a piece of gum on her shoe. She really did play the part of a Slytherin perfectly.

"Ron," Hermione sighed, gathering up her books, "We have an Ancient Runes assignment together. I thought it would be best to get it over and done with as soon as possible." She stood to leave; they clearly wouldn't be getting anymore work done now.

"Oh," was the most intelligent response Ron could come up with. At least he seemed somewhat placated as Hermione left Arielle with an apologetic glance, that Ron completely missed, and headed out of the library, Ron following in her wake like an obedient puppy. "Why are _you_ here anyway?" She asked. Ron usually avoided the library like the plague.

"Oh, er, Harry wanted to check something." Ron replied unsurely; Harry had obviously made up some dodgy excuse to ditch him. Hermione wondered why exactly Harry would want to ditch his clueless best friend. "So, I said we'll meet him in Defence."

On the way to DADA, Hermione realised she actually had no idea who their Professor was going to be. She hadn't seen any new faces amongst the teaching staff. "Ron, do you have any idea who our Defence Professor is?"

Ron blinked, "You... _weren't listening?_" he asked clearly astounded

"When?"

"At the Welcome Feast! Dumbledore told us, just before he introduced those transfer students!"

"I must have missed it" Indeed she had been distracted that night. _Just tell me already!_ Hermione thought, Ron was obviously enjoying knowing something that Hermione didn't.

Thankfully, he wasn't very practised in the art of suspense. "Dunno, Dumbledore said his name was Professor Steve... Stevens? But he's not here yet; apparently he's got to finish some job overseas first. Anyway, I've never heard of him before."

"Stevenson?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening.

"Yea, that sounds right."

_Wow, I wonder if Arielle knows?_

"So who's teaching us today?" She asked instead.

Ron shrugged "Dunno, some sub."

The same question seemed to be on everyone's minds as the class settled in, whispers of a mystery substitute teacher were running rampant amongst the students. Hermione watched as Arielle entered the classroom. She couldn't determine any sign that she knew who their teacher was, or would be in the future.

However, as the door was dramatically thrown open, banging loudly on the wall behind it, the class immediately fell quiet. It was not the loud noise that had stunned them though. The teacher now stalking towards the front of the classroom was none other than Professor Snape.

Sneering he addressed the class, "Turn to page four-hundred and ninety three." There was a slight pause, then an immediate scuffling broke out as the students quickly reached for their textbooks.

Surprisingly, it was not Harry who spoke out first at the unexpected development, as Hermione had expected, but Edouard who had his hand in the air. "Mr Greyback?" Snape addressed him.

"Forgive me sir, I'm new and all, but I would have thought it unusual to have the same Professor for two different subjects?"

Hermione smirked, less than a day and he was already speaking like a true Slytherin. Indeed Snape could find no fault with the question and therefore, dutifully answered it. "Indeed, but Professor Stevenson, I believe, is otherwise occupied," at that Arielle's head snapped up, "and until such time as he is available, I will be your Professor for this subject." He paused, scrutinising the class, "any other _questions?_" he asked, daring the students to raise their hands. No one took the dare though, "Good, turn to page four-hundred and ninety three." He repeated.

As the class did as it was told, Hermione saw Arielle duck under her table and retrieve a black diary with a silver cheetah on the cover. Snape, it seemed, did not miss the action either, "That, Miss Stevenson, is not required material for this class." He reprimanded, glaring at her. For an intense moment she matched him, glare for glare, but a moment later she clenched her jaw and reluctantly returned the diary to her bag.

"Now," Snape continued forebodingly, "since tonight is astronomically significant, you have one hour to research the magical properties of the full moon and its effect on the dark arts. I expect at least eleven inches on the subject by next lesson." At that Snape dismissed the class and seated himself behind the front desk.

"I can't believe it!" Ron whispered, "Snape twice in one day! What kind of luck is that?"

"Bad," Harry grumbled.

Hermione ignored them, starting to list everything she wanted to cover in her essay. An hour later, saw Hermione stretching out her cramped hand, a satisfied smile on her face, and her completed essay neatly rolled up in front of her. Grinning, she saw that Arielle and Edouard had also finished.

Ron groaned as the bell rang. "This is ridiculous! I can't find anything on the full moon, other than the stuff on werewolves!"

"I found something in chapter 10," Harry commented, "apparently the plant Haellebore needs to be plucked under the light of the full moon in order to transfer its magical properties into potions."

"Urgh, eleven inches! How're we supposed to write eleven inches on that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes "Well I would suggest you mention sneezewort and wolfsbane as having the same properties, especially when applied to dark potions, not to mention the multiple hexes and curses that are either strengthened or weakened by the pull of the full moon. There's also the strong debate that the burning of mallowsweet by centaurs on the night of the full moon may enable them to predict astronomic events for the coming month. Something Dark Wizards specifically have tried to exploit over the years." She listed as they exited the classroom.

Ron stared at her disbelievingly, "You _really_ need to tell me where to get those edible text books."

***

The last class of the hectic and stressful day couldn't have come sooner for Hermione, especially since she found Herbology to be quite a relaxing subject. _Must be something to do with all the greenery_, and the fact that she was working with Neville, who she considered to be a very relaxing person. Not many people appreciated the quiet, intellectual conversations that Hermione enjoyed, however, Neville was one of the few who did.

So, thankfully after an hour of quiet conversation with Neville while hydrating dehydrated Quampsquirts, Hermione was feeling much more relaxed. She even managed to help Harry and Ron struggle through their homework that afternoon, while making sure she had hers completed before dinner. She certainly wouldn't have time after dinner, she thought with excitement.

***

It was already dark when Hermione quietly snuck onto the open balcony of the Astronomy Tower. Leaning on the railing, lost deep in thought, was Arielle. The light wind whipped her sleek dark brown hair away from her face and the light of the full moon was reflected in her far-away, silver gaze.

As Hermione watched, Arielle held out her hand, intricately moving her fingers as if she were running her hand along silk somehow suspended in the atmosphere. For a moment, Hermione thought she could _see_ the air, and the breeze as it filtered through Arielle's fingers. It seemed to shine, resembling a silvery, metallic substance.

Arielle played with it for a few more moments before sighing. "I miss you Aleks," she whispered, her words carried away on the breeze as it disappeared, becoming invisible once more.

Hermione sighed, her friend just looked so _sad_. Silently, she moved forward, coming to a stop behind Arielle, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Arielle pulled herself from her thoughts and smiled gently at Hermione.

"Did you know about Ben?" Hermione asked.

"No," Arielle frowned, "I had no idea. I mean it _must_ be him who's going to be teaching us, but I haven't been able to contact him."

"He's not replying?" Hermione clarified

"Well, no," Arielle admitted, "I haven't actually had time to write him a message."

"What have you been _doing_ all afternoon?" Hermione asked disbelievingly

"Edouard and I went for a run."

Hermione blinked, "I thought that's what we're going to do now?"

"No," Arielle laughed, "a _training_ run. Can you believe that the Quidditch pitch was completely abandoned? Doesn't anyone have training to do?"

Hermione laughed. Arielle never could sit still. She always had to be doing _something_.

"Oh, that's where you were during dinner," Hermione realised, "So you're going to join Slytherin's Quidditch team?"

Arielle smirked "If I can get Malfoy kicked out of his seeker position," her eyes lighting up, "but I haven't actually been on a broom since... well, for a while."

_Oh Arielle,_ Hermione thought sadly. She knew what Arielle meant. She hadn't been on a broom since _that night_.

"Anyway," Arielle interrupted Hermione's reverie, "we should get going, Edouard's probably waiting."

Hermione smirked, "Impatiently as usual, I'm sure."

Arielle grinned as she started to climb over the railing.

"Uh," Hermione watched her unsurely, "How _exactly_ do you plan on getting down?"

Arielle didn't answer, but she grinned as the winds whipping around her grew stronger and realisation hit Hermione. Eyes wide and heart beating frantically, she too scrambled over the railing and stood on the edge of the Astronomy Tower. _The tallest tower in Hogwarts!_ Her brain rattled off unhelpfully.

"You up for a free-fall?" Arielle shouted over the intense whistle of the winds.

"Um..." was all Hermione managed to stutter as she gripped Arielle's hand tightly, suddenly unsure of what they were about to do.

Arielle shrugged. She'd take that as a 'yes'.

Before Hermione realised what was happening, Arielle was jumping, and for a moment she seemed to levitate in mid-air. As Hermione's eyes processed the impossibility her brain was rattling of physics calculations, noting exactly how high the tower was, the speed at which they would fall and the force at which they would likely hit the ground.

However, all this amounted to nothing as she felt a tug on her arm, pulling her off balance, and she too was falling. A high pitched sound was all she could hear as air rushed past her, her robes whipped behind her, and Arielle grinned like a maniac beside her. She realised it was not just the whistle of the winds, she was screaming!

And falling!

And flying!

As the shock wore off, Hermione found herself laughing. It was the crazy, hysterical laughter that came with doing something that was supposed to be impossible. She spread her arms out beside her, revelling in the feel of the wind and the weightlessness and the _freedom!_

_No wonder Arielle's obsessed with flying_, she thought airily.

Soon, however, her attention was brought back to the ground. It was coming closer.

"Um," Hermione squeaked worriedly

It was still coming closer.

"Arielle?" she whispered.

Ok, it was _really _close now!

"ARIELLE!"

Beside her Arielle laughed manically, as a sudden burst of wind blew up from beneath them. The closer they came to the ground the harder the wind blew, effectively slowing their fall until they simply drifted slowly to the ground.

"Urgh," Hermione uttered as her legs gave way beneath her and she landed ungracefully on her butt, "there are simpler ways of travel you know," she told Arielle, who, other than looking pleasantly windswept, was easily standing in front of her as if she had not just engaged in a suicidal jump of the highest tower in Hogwarts.

"Hermione," she assumed a look of mock-disappointment, "Your complete lack of faith in me hurts."

"Ha," was all Hermione could manage as a reply.

"Honestly Hermione," A dry voice commented behind her. Hermione picked herself off the ground as Edouard appeared out of the shadows, "'Meet me at the Astronomy Tower' when we're going for a run in the Forbidden Forest? What did you expect?"

Sadly Hermione could find no flaw in Edouard's logic. "Anyway, you're late" he started walking towards the forest.

Arielle checked her watch. "Ten seconds!" she exclaimed.

Edouard glanced back, eyebrows raised, "you're still late!" he insisted, picking up his pace. Arielle and Hermione had to jog to keep up with him.

"Wow," Hermione was still recovering, "How long has it been since we last did that?"

"Too long," Arielle replied, as the breeze dropped back to its normal level.

"You really have to teach me how to do that," Hermione joked. She knew she would never be able to control the winds wandlessly like that. It was just Arielle's natural ability.

Soon they came to a clearing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A wolf's howl in the distance broke the silence of the night. On hearing it, Edouard's face broke into a dangerous grin. He gazed at the full moon, marvelling at its magic. He could feel its pull like gravity, drawing him in until the moon was all that existed, nothing else in the world mattered. He breathed in deeply, his amber eyes glowing as he relaxed, finally allowing himself to transform.

***


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **If you don't know what an ocelot is... you _should!_ (i.e. go look it up!)

Oh, and in my story, werewolves look like actual wolves! Not that manky, spastic creature that was in the movie...

**Chapter 7**

***

"_I miss you Aleks"_

Arielle's whisper was swept away on the winds. Whistling eerily through branches and leaves, the winds left Hogwarts behind as they travelled out across London and over the seas towards Europe. With them they brought a cool change, enveloping the continent in the first cool night.

As the winds approached the Schwarzwald of Germany they grew stronger. They whistled through branches, throwing leaves in the air and creating whirlwinds on the forest floor. The source of their excitement seemed to stem from a clearing in the forest which led to the open mouth of a cave.

Illuminated by the dying light of a campfire, a youth stood in the entrance to the cave. His bright, ocean blue eyes were directed to the sky, reflecting the twinkling stars, while his red lips parted and curved in a smile. The winds appeared to dance around him as he spread his arms out wide, welcoming them. Despite the chill there were no goosebumps springing up across his tanned skin, and no pink tinge on his cheeks. He remained an image of perfection, his freckled face lit in an expression of radiant happiness.

"I miss you too Arielle," he whispered, his words carried away on the winds.

However, the winds soon dispersed, continuing on their journey, leaving a heavy stillness behind in the clearing. Wrapping his cloak back around his body the boy moved back towards the dying coals of the fire. Seating himself gracefully on the dirt floor of the cave he withdrew a thin, dark brown wand and waited.

It was a sudden movement across the surrounding grass that caught his attention. A small white rabbit found itself precariously close to the fire, before it stopped, stunned, staring right into those brilliant, blue eyes. Narrowing his eyes, the boy focussed,

"Leglimens" he whispered.

Diving through the cloudy nothingness of the rabbit's inconsequential thoughts he clamped onto the more substantial memory of the rabbit's warren. Still inside the rabbit's mind he whispered "Semita", wrapping the memory up in the tracking spell, then casting "Obliviate!"

The rabbit stared at him blankly, the Obliviate clearly having worked; it now had no idea where to go. Still concentrating, the boy then reached back into the rabbit's mind, finding the Obliviate and breaking it, releasing the memory. He then waited. The rabbit stared at him. _Nothing_.

The boy sighed in frustration as the rabbit, coming to its senses, bolted away, a white streak against the dark green of the grass.

"Still no luck, Aleks?" asked a deep voice from behind

The boy jumped from the floor, throwing up a shield charm as he twisted around in one fluid movement to locate the owner of the voice. Having been in deep concentration he hadn't heard the older male approach. The owner of the deep voice chuckled, "Steady there you twitchy little rabbit." Sighing in relief, a rueful grin spread across Aleks's face as he brushed a strand of light brown hair out of his face.

"I swear Ben, if I enter one more rabbit's mind, I'm going to _become_ a mindless fur ball, good for nothing but eating lettuce and digging holes!"

The older male, Ben, grinned good-naturedly also seating himself by the fire. His dark brown eyes crackled with mirth at Aleks's outburst. "No worries, there's some fresh hay and a nice warm hut out the back."

"Urgh," wandlessly Aleks conjured a pillow and threw it at Ben, who easily caught it and put it behind his head as he lay down on the cave floor. Aleks gave Ben a rather irritated look. Ben raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously! I just don't know what we're doing wrong!" Aleks complained, "We must be missing something."

Ben frowned, shaking his head "It should be possible, there must be a way to track an Obliviate and make sure it's not broken"

Aleks stilled, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. Ben watched him, knowing that he was thinking an idea through. "Tracking!" he finally whispered. Ben frowned.

"_Tracking_!" he repeated looking at Ben, his blue eyes wide, "We've been trying to _track_ an _Obliviate_!"

Ben swiftly caught on, sitting up with the realisation, "But an Obliviate is unchanging by nature and so can't be _tracked_!"

"Alarm charms!" Aleks burst out, grinning from ear to ear.

Ben took in a deep breath, "Of course!" He too allowed a wide smile to brighten his face.

The younger boy could barely contain his excitement "May I?" his eyes conveying his intentions to the older male.

Ben could feel his pulse racing as he nodded his consent, _this might just work..._

He was distracted, however as he felt another presence enter his mind. The younger boy breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the highly organised and intelligent mind of his comrade. _Do you have any idea how wonderfully organised you mind is?_ He thought, _Well, _came Ben's reply, _the last ten times you told me might have given me some idea..._ the thought drifted off. Ben could _feel_ the younger boy sticking his tongue out at him from within his mind and chuckled.

Unknown to him, Ben's mind was like an exquisite art gallery, clean marble floors and white-walled corridors, leading to memories organised into collections of wizard pictures - the figures within them moving - depicting a particular memory. Aleks waded slowly through Ben's mind, steering clear of the corridors where the walls became dark and the floor turned a steely grey. Those corridors held memories neither of them cared to relive. He focussed instead on his favourite picture in the whole gallery.

_A young girl was dancing in a field of yellow canola flowers, her dark brown hair flowing gracefully around her as the sun reflected off her pale skin. She was wearing a bright pink, summer dress and her face was lit with an expression of such happiness and freedom. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement as she called back to Ben, "Come on Ben! It's beautiful out here!" The much younger Ben in the memory glanced up at ominous dark grey clouds in the distance before focussing on the girl again, "It's going to rain soon!"_

_True to his words, thunder crackled overhead as a sprinkling of rain began to mix with the rays of the sun. "Sunshower! The girl cried joyfully, running even further into the field._

"_Arielle!" Ben cried, running after her. Catching up with her he swept her up in his arms, her laughter ringing in his ears. Spinning her around, they collapsed onto the flowers, the girl landing lightly on top of Ben. Sitting up, he pulled her into his lap._

"_Look Ben, a rainbow!" Ben smiled at the perfect arch of brilliant colours reflected in the girl's silver eyes. Stroking her wet hair as she cuddled into his chest they sat there, in the open field, for hours, not caring that they were soaked to the skin._

_How old was she?_ The question interrupted Ben's thoughts as he remembered there was someone else in his mind. _She was just over eight,_ he thought fondly. Aleks sighed; it was such a beautiful memory. He wished he had such wonderful memories from his early childhood.

Shaking that thought off, he turned back to the task at hand. Choosing a less important memory – a snapshot of the sky earlier that night – he placed it under the strongest alarm charm he knew. He then cast Obliviate on it, withdrawing from Ben's mind.

Ben opened his eyes, his mind feeling slightly foggy. "Done?"

"Done," Aleks concentrated, "now does it work?"

His pulse was racing and his wand a little unsteady as he muttered the counter curse under his breath. They waited silently. _Nothing_.

They both sighed. "Hang on a moment," bright blue eyes stared intently into dark brown, "think back to the sky this evening" Ben didn't question his younger companion as he did what he was told.

"Ow!" Aleks covered his ears with his hands, at the same time knowing the action was futile. The alarm sounded loud and strong inside his head. Surprisingly when he removed his hands from his ears, there was a look of triumph in his features.

"I've got it! For real!" Ben was compliant as Aleks, once again entered his mind, this time casting the Obliviate charm first then placing the alarm charm on top of the Obliviate. Looking over his handiwork he glared at the all-too-obvious alarm charm. However unfazed, he began to work on an illusion; covering the alarm charm and making it appear that the memory was only shrouded in an Obliviate. He smirked with satisfaction; illusions were his specialty.

Finally withdrawing from Ben's mind Aleks sat back heavily. "This is it?" Ben questioned

"This is it. If this doesn't work..."

Ben shrugged, "No sense in worrying about that yet" His dark brown eyes were intense with anticipation.

Aleks once again raised his wand, looking deep into Ben's eyes. "Memor!"

Alarms sounded in Aleks's head as the counter curse smashed the Obliviate. Eyes streaming from the combination of the alarms ringing in his head and the euphoria that had spread through him at the realisation of his success he raised his eyes to Ben's and gave a single nod.

He laughed as he was crushed in Ben's massive bear hug. It was a while before either of them calmed down enough to speak. "Finally!" he growled, "Now we can go get that bastard!"

_Evan Rosier_. The name left a sour taste in his mouth. Of course, Aleks supposed, that was a side effect of having someone try to kill you. Ever since _that night_ he and Ben had been hunting Rosier, not because of the attempt on Aleks's life, but because while trying to kill him, Rosier had, unwittingly, discovered Aleks's deepest and darkest secret.

Thankfully, however, the Dark Lord's followers were not renowned for their intelligence; Rosier had not understood what he had seen, or its implications, and that was currently the only thing protecting Aleks. Though, hopefully, they would now be able to hide these memories all together, and leave behind an alarm to warn them if the memories were ever uncovered.

Aleks grinned, his blue eyes flashing as they reflected the flickering flames of the camp-fire. Tomorrow was the day, and then if everything went to plan, they would be heading to Hogwarts and he could see Arielle again.

***

Hermione watched as Edouard transformed on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Anyone watching would likely believe they were seeing a werewolf transformation, but Edouard, in fact, was not a werewolf.

No, Edouard was the _child_ of a werewolf, one of the only two werewolf children in existence, to Hermione's knowledge. He felt the pull of the full moon, but he was not bound by the curse. As a result, though, it was only natural for his animagus form to be a large and powerful, sandy-brown wolf.

Hermione flinched as the Edouard in wolf form gave a long, loud howl.

"Oh hush Edouard," Arielle reprimanded, "Do you want to wake the whole castle?" Giving an irritated roll of her eyes Arielle leapt gracefully into her lithe cheetah form.

Observing her friend, Hermione frowned. Arielle had always been admired for her slender figure, something that was somewhat hidden by their billowing school robes, but surely her ribs shouldn't be poking out like that, even in cheetah form...

Edouard let out a wolfish bark, telling Hermione to hurry up. Arielle was already trotting up ahead. Running after them Hermione disappeared as she entered the Forbidden Forest; in her place stood a bright-eyed, intelligent-looking ocelot. She was not as fast as Arielle, nor as powerful as Edouard, but Hermione's ocelot form had helped to get her out of a tight spot on more than one occasion.

Seeing her transformed, Edouard let out another bark, and together all three animagi were sprinting through the forest. Hermione didn't know how long they ran, or how far. All she knew was that she was running and nothing else mattered.

She could only hear the leaves beneath her paws, feel the wind on her face, see Arielle and Edouard up ahead and sense the darkness and solitude that enclosed them. In fact, the forest _was_ rather empty tonight. They had not seen, nor heard from any other creatures at all.

Only now, that they had reached the depths of the forest and started to slow their mind-numbing sprint, did Hermione begin to sense another presence. Her immediate urge was to hiss and spit at the unknown presence that had her fur standing on end, but she fought the urge and maintained her silence.

They were now coming upon a clearing in the forest. Up ahead Arielle had stopped and Hermione could tell that she was feeling the presence too. She turned back to face Edouard, hissing at him. If a cheetah could wear an accusatory expression that would be Arielle's expression right now.

She glared at him as he trotted past her, unabashed, into the clearing. Hermione had a feeling that Arielle knew what this _presence _was. Arielle and Hermione stealthily followed Edouard and entered the clearing, only to find Edouard frolicking with another wolf. The new wolf had pitch black fur, compared to Edouard's sandy brown. This wolf was different, however; long snout, tufted tail, and when the other wolf stopped to look at her she saw its dilated pupils.

Yep, no mistaking it, she was looking at a werewolf. _Thanks for the warning Edouard_ she thought sarcastically.

She stood stock still as the werewolf suddenly bounded over to her and Arielle. She knew it wouldn't hurt her in her animagus form, but she still had the urge to run up the nearest tree. Inquisitively, the werewolf merely sniffed them, tilting its head to one side as if surprised. It was looking straight at Hermione, and she thought she saw recognition in those deep brown eyes, but in the blink of an eye, the werewolf had bounded away again, rejoining Edouard.

Arielle let out a low hiss as the two cats trotted after the frolicking wolves. There was no mistaking what that hiss meant; Arielle was going to _kill_ Edouard. Hermione silently agreed.

Edouard had the uncanny ability to sense when he was around a werewolf. He would have known there would be a werewolf in the forest tonight, and must have been holding out on them all day.

Hermione had to admit, though, she was having _fun._ The two cats chased the wolves and the wolves chased the cats. Hermione, of course, had a distinct advantage, being a tree climber, and leapt from tree to tree above their heads, much to the wolves' irritation.

It was strange, though; she didn't feel as if they were three animagi and a werewolf. Their werewolf companion seemed completely at ease in its wolf form, not at all like Lupin had been. She just wondered who on earth it could be; surely she would have figured out by now if there was a werewolf in the castle. After all, she had figured out Lupin was a werewolf only two months after he had started teaching at Hogwarts.

From her position in the tree tops, Hermione could now see the pinkish hints of dawn approaching on the horizon. Scrambling back down the tree, she mewled her warning to the others. Arielle began to lead the way out of the forest, however, Edouard nodded towards the werewolf, indicating that he would stay.

Hermione shrugged and left them. Soon she and Arielle made it to the edge of the forest, transforming back into their human selves.

"Did you know that werewolf?" Arielle immediately asked,

"No," Hermione answered, confused.

"Hmm, well it knew you"

"I know," Hermione frowned, looking troubled, "I thought I'd _know_ though, if there were a werewolf in the castle."

Arielle shrugged, "Perhaps not if it's... _one of us_," she looked at Hermione, her eyes conveying a secret meaning behind the words.

Their musing was interrupted, however, by Edouard's bark-like laugh coming though the trees as he and his companion made their way out of the forest.

Hermione blinked in surprise as her honey-brown eyes locked with the dark brown eyes that had belonged to the black werewolf.

"Surprised to see me Hermione?" the werewolf grinned, "Probably not as surprised as I was to find out that _you're_ an Unknowable."

_Hmm_, Hermione thought, as she and Arielle exchanged a glance, _one of us after all._

***

**A/N:** First of all, thanks to my reviewers! You help keep this story on track!

Second, I'm starting to think of the Hermione/someone pairing... I was thinking Hermione/Draco or Hermione/Blaise... but I'm open to your requests! (just no Hermione/Harry, Hermione/Ron or Hermione/Snape as per readingdeamon's challenge)

Third, i have some fanart for this fic... check out my profile for the links


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

***__

Ocean blue eyes reflected the rising sun as they watched a pitch black eagle-owl fly off above the tree tops, a letter fluttering behind it as it flew.

***

_He ran a hand down the silver-black handle of his broom. It hummed in anticipation._

***

_There was a presence behind him, a deep voice spoke, "Ready?" Dark brown eyes held a fire within. _

"_Ready" he replied, his soft, ocean blue eyes hardening. _

***

_Unrestrained power crackled in the air, now was the time to attack and hold nothing back. They sped through the skies, raw magic humming around them._

***

_An alleyway lay innocently in the midst of the German city. Perched on the rooftops they waited._

***

_A hooded figure exited a nearby tavern. Unaware he strode right into the trap not noticing the two wizards descending from the rooftops. _

***

_The hooded figure spun, dodging the curse just before it hit him. His eyes widened as he came face to face with the one who had haunted his dreams._

_The youth smirked at the obvious discomfort of his quarry, "My dear Rosier, I do hope we're not interrupting"_

_Rosier glanced behind him, realising the youth was not alone, "What are you!" _

_A satisfied grin twisted across the youth's lips. _So he still didn't know. Good.

_Distracted by the taller figure approaching him from behind, Rosier didn't see the flash of white light headed his way until it was too late. That was the last he remembered of the mysterious youth and his accomplice. _

***

Hermione blinked.

"Blaise Zabini?" She still didn't quite believe her eyes.

The Slytherin smirked, "Hermione Granger."

"How _did_ you find out?" Hermione questioned, on her guard. She could feel Arielle tensing beside her.

Blaise, utilizing his werewolf abilities, sniffed the air while listening carefully to their surroundings. Secure that they were alone he answered, "My father is the Crimson Knight."

Hermione's eyes widened. The Zabinis had always been known as neutrals in the war against Voldemort. In other words, no one knew which side they were fighting on. Now Hermione knew why; they were part of the Unknown League.

Not just part of it, but at the top of it. The Crimson Knight was the leader of Great Britain's Unknown League. Hermione had not known before that the Crimson Knight was Blaise's father. The identity of their leaders was hidden, even between Leagues of different countries.

No one outside the Unknown League knew anything the Unknowables didn't want them to know; they were a stricter and far more secretive version of the Unspeakables that worked at the Ministry.

This was the world Hermione had been born into.

"Have you always known?" she asked, wondering just how long the Slytherin had been aware of her real identity.

Blaise shook his head, "Father only saw fit to tell me at the beginning of the year, when we received word of your friends arriving," he nodded to Arielle and Edouard, "before that, he didn't want to risk jeopardising your mission."

Hermione raised her eyebrows; the Zabinis as the Good Guys? This was going to take some getting used to.

"Are you an Unknowable as well?" she asked. Blaise nodded. Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and relaxed slightly. If Blaise was an Unknowable too, she could be secure in the knowledge that he would protect her secret, just as she now, would protect his. It was an unspoken law within the League.

"Are you also undercover?" she inquired.

"In a manner of speaking," Blaise replied, leaning in closer to Hermione, "My job parallels yours. While you work directly to protect Potter when threats come to him, I work to prevent threats getting to him. That's where being in Slytherin comes in handy; the children of the Death Eaters talk, see, and I listen."

At this, Hermione had to laugh, "Honestly, Blaise Zabini, protecting Harry Potter. Who'd have thought?"

Blaise sneered elegantly. "Watch your tongue Granger," he warned, "I have a reputation to protect" he held his head high, nose in the air, instantly becoming the superior Slytherin she had known for all these years.

Hermione grinned, "And I wouldn't be cursed on the spot if anyone saw me right now?" she asked.

Blaise raised his eyebrows, dropping his Slytherin-royalty persona. He grinned when he saw her point; she was casually hanging out with three Slytherins.

"True," he agreed, "that Weasel of yours would probably be the first to bite your head off"

"Urgh," Hermione groaned, "don't get me started on dear Ronald"

Blaise snorted. The secret life of Hermione Granger... Who knew? This, he was sure, was just the tip of the ice-berg.

"We'd better head back" Arielle reminded them quietly, "I for one am in need of a hot shower and a serious dose of Pep-Up."

Now that she mentioned it, Arielle did look a little worse for wear. Hermione didn't feel half as tired as Arielle looked.

"Pep-Up?" Blaise inquired,

"Yes, it's a new version of the pepper-up potion," Hermione told him, "invented by The Half-Blood Prince"

Blaise smirked, "Yes, I know about him too. You're not the only student he's been... tutoring."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. An Unknowable's training never ceased. There was always plenty to learn, and their fast-tracked education meant the Hogwarts curriculum was hardly challenging. However, Hermione's training could not afford to cease when she got to Hogwarts, and, as a result, the only undercover Professor had been required to tutor her.

"That certainly explains why he was always so strict about punctuality." Hermione reflected on the many times she had been reprimanded for being a mere minute or so late.

Blaise nodded, "Didn't want us running into each other on the way to see him."

"Well I must admit," Hermione smiled, "He was very successful."

"That he was," Blaise agreed, "It seems as if we have more in common than I ever thought possible."

He was smiling, _really_ smiling. Perhaps he too was feeling the relief that someone else knew his biggest secret, and that he finally had people he could rely on. Perhaps he was still feeling the rush of last night if his windswept appearance was any indication. In any case, Hermione thought, he looked _nice_; he seemed really pleasant and relaxed, and barely resembled the haughty and uptight Slytherin he usually was.

They had rounded the Greenhouses now and the sun was shining above the horizon. They automatically kept to the shadows. It was a side effect of their training; were anyone to see them from the castle they would be hard pressed to determine their identities.

"So," Hermione began cautiously, "How long have you been a werewolf?"

"Hmm," Blaise looked thoughtful, "Going on sixteen years"

"Sixteen years!" Hermione exclaimed, "When were you bitten?"

"Must have been about two months old," Blaise admitted, "See, Voldemort left it to Fenir to _persuade_ my father to join the Death Eaters," He shrugged, "Father's great, but even he couldn't single-handedly keep a pack of angry werewolves at bay."

Hermione frowned, "I'm sorry Blaise."

Blaise shook his head, "Don't be. I don't see it as a curse Hermione. My werewolf is as much a part of me as your animagus is part of you," at that he smirked, the sneaky-Slytherin look coming back into his eyes, "In fact, my werewolf is my animagus."

Hermione blinked, "I don't understand,"

"Well, Father's still not quite sure how it works, but perhaps because I received the werewolf bite at such a young age I'm able to transform into a werewolf at will. The only time I can't control it is during the full moon."

Hermione was shocked; Blaise was the first person she had heard of who could turn into a werewolf outside the full moon, "Do you take the wolfsbane potion?"

"I used to, when I was younger, but it hasn't been necessary since I came to Hogwarts. My werewolf and I get along quite well" Blaise told her, as if it were completely normal

"You're telling me that a werewolf, who hasn't been under the influence of wolfsbane, has been running around the castle since I arrived?"

Blaise grinned, "Yup"

Hermione shook her head, quickly getting over her indignity, "That's incredible Blaise."

"I know," he answered, nose in the air.

"Don't you go getting a big head now!" Hermione warned

"Ha, it's too late for that Hermione" Blaise reminded her, "I'm a Slytherin, remember? Ego and charm, it's all we've got."

Hermione rolled her eyes, she wouldn't justify that with an answer. Blaise smirked, knowing he'd won. "So what's Edouard's story," he nodded to Arielle and Edouard walking ahead of them, "he knew I was a werewolf the moment he saw me."

Hermione shrugged, "Edouard's father was a werewolf. There must be some genetic qualities that are passed down."

Blaise frowned, "Greyback's not exactly a common name Hermione,"

Hermione nodded, she knew what he was asking, "Fenir is Edouard's uncle."

"Fenir has a sibling?" Blaise sounded slightly worried,

"He _had_ a younger brother, who was also a werewolf, but he killed him. You know it's not common for werewolves to be able to settle down and have a family. Apparently Fenir was jealous of his brother's family, so, in true Fenir fashion, he killed him and his wife. Edouard and his sister, Leigh, were rescued by some of the German Unknowns and taken to live with them."

"Hmm," was all Blaise managed to say, "That's a cheerful story."

"It involves Fenir," Hermione pointed out, "What did you expect?"

"Good point." They were standing outside the entrance to the school now. "Well I wish you luck on getting though what I'm sure will be yet another long and torturously boring day," Blaise grinned, "Hopefully tonight will be better."

"Tonight?" Hermione asked, bewildered.

Blaise looked at her as if she were missing the most obvious thing in the world, "We have astronomy!"

"You're doing astronomy?" Hermione asked, yet again surprised, "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"I aim to please." His big, wolfish grin was the last she saw of him as he disappeared into the castle behind Edouard and Arielle.

***


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

***

Hermione groaned. It was only breakfast and she was already bored. She looked over at the Slytherin table, watching her friends.

Arielle was once again absent. She must have been having a _very_ long shower. Blaise and Edouard were quietly chatting, with Malfoy opposite them, apparently listening in. Sensing her gaze, Blaise looked up. He grinned slyly, as Hermione rested her head on her hand, winking at her. She smirked, knowing that he was re-enforcing his previous point; she would need his good luck to get through the long day ahead.

Sighing she settled down to read one of her secretly transfigured textbooks on advanced astronomy; she might as well be prepared for tonight. As a result she didn't even notice Harry and Ron's arrival until Harry spoke.

"Why does he have his back turned?"

"Hmm?" Hermione blinked, realising she had company.

"_Malfoy_"

_Urgh_, Hermione groaned inwardly. Harry really was obsessed! Or paranoid. She wasn't sure which was worse.

"Why is Ron facing us and not the Slytherins?" Hermione asked in return, indicating to Ron who was sitting across from them.

"But this is _Malfoy_," Harry insisted, "not once in five years has he sat facing away from us" 

Hermione realised he was right. Malfoy had never before missed the opportunity to sneer at them from across the hall.

"Well I don't know," Hermione sighed irritably, "you seem to observe him far more often than I do,"

At that Harry fell silent. Hermione glanced up at him, feeling she had struck a nerve, but Harry seemed to have merely developed a sudden interest in his breakfast. Nothing unusual; their conversations were often cut short in light of food.

Shrugging, Hermione returned to her book.

***

By the time lunch rolled around, Hermione had to admit it was not paranoia.

Harry was definitely _obsessed. _

He had taken to following, actually _following,_ Malfoy around the school, and he was good at it too. Since it was her responsibility to keep an eye on him, Hermione now found herself following Harry down the currently deserted hallways. Even with all her training, she was having a hard time both keeping up with him and staying out of his sight. She had to wonder if this was a new development or if this had been going on last year too.

She saw one last flash of white blond hair up ahead of Harry before it disappeared altogether; Malfoy must have reached his destination. She watched as Harry stealthily crept up to the door Malfoy had disappeared through, it was labelled 'Boys' Bathroom'.

Frowning, Hermione waited half a minute before following.

Rather than barging into the bathroom, Hermione opted for a subtler approach. Checking the hallway was clear, she began working a complicated little piece of magic on the door to create a one-way window; it would enable her to see inside the bathroom, without anyone inside knowing they were being watched.

She smiled as she worked; she never thought she would be performing this spell on a boys' bathroom of all places. As the window formed before her eyes, however, her smile quickly disappeared.

Harry and Malfoy were shooting spells at one another. As she watched one of their spells smashed a cistern. Water poured everywhere and Harry slipped on the wet floor as he tried to dodge a spell, ending up sprawled ungracefully at Malfoy's feet. Malfoy's features contorted as he raised his wand. Hermione didn't need to be a seer to tell which spell he was going to use next. Abandoning all subtlety she pushed open the door, lifting her wand, but she was not fast enough.

Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry, "Cruci-"

"Sectumsempra!"

It took a moment for Hermione to register that it had been Harry who shouted the spell. _Where on Earth had he learnt it?_ She watched helplessly as blood spurted from deep gashes which suddenly appeared on Malfoy's face and chest.

"Harry..." she whispered weakly

In the next moment, the door banged open and Arielle swept into the room. She seemed to process the scene faster than Hermione would have believed possible and with a quick hand gesture, Harry was levitated from his position on the floor and flung against the nearest wall.

Arielle had not bothered to withdraw her wand from her robes, using the wandless magic Hermione knew she was capable of to hold Harry against the wall as she advanced on him. Her arm was stretched out in front of her as if she was physically holding him against the wall, yet she was not touching him.

Her rage was palpable, her steely silver eyes flashing in the half-lit bathroom. "Just who do you think you are _Potter_?" The venomous words echoed of the dripping walls. With a final glare she left Harry hanging on the wall and rushed to Malfoy's side. Withdrawing her wand, she began running it along the deeper gashes on Malfoy's chest, whispering song-like incantations.

As she worked, the door burst open once more, to reveal a livid-faced Professor Snape. Barely glancing at either Harry or Hermione, he joined Arielle at Malfoy's side and together they finished healing the gashes, and wiping away the remaining blood.

"Potter!" Snape spat, "Get out of here!" he waved his hand, releasing Arielle's spell. Harry crumpled to the floor.

"Now!" Eyes as wide as saucers, Harry clumsily picked himself up, and, giving Hermione one last terrified look, rushed out of the bathroom.

"Stevenson, Granger, bring him to my chambers immediately" Snape ordered, sweeping out of the bathroom.

In the blink of an eye Arielle had conjured a stretcher beneath Malfoy and was now levitating him behind her as she led the way out of the room. Hermione followed behind the trailing stretcher.

While the hallways were usually fairly clear during lunch time, Snape must have done something to ensure they didn't run into any other students on their way to the dungeons.

When they arrived at Snape's chambers, the usually dark and dank room had a fire blazing and a bed had been conjured in one corner, giving it a surprisingly cosy feel.

Arielle gently levitated Malfoy off the stretcher and onto the bed and then merely stood, watching Malfoy, the shock obviously catching up with her. Snape, who had been summoning various vials swept over to the blond and began administering the various potions.

Hermione sighed and summoned two armchairs, gently pushing the still stunned Arielle into one of them, and seating herself in the other. Snape, she knew, would be occupied for a while.

"What _happened?_" Arielle croaked, finding her voice again after the rage and adrenalin had worn off.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, "I only saw the tail end of their duel. I have no idea how it started." Arielle still had not taken her eyes off Malfoy. "How did you know?"

Arielle finally looked over at Hermione, her watery silver gaze locking with Hermione's calm, brown one. Slowly she slid back the sleeve on her forearm, revealing the twisting and writhing Dark Mark to Hermione.

"It's not only a link to the Dark Lord" she whispered.

Hermione shook her head, the puzzle pieces still didn't fit, "but there's more to your link with Malfoy." It wasn't a question. "Why were you so _protective_ of him?"

Arielle looked away, sliding her sleeve back down.

Snape had now finished his administrations and was covering Malfoy with a blanket. He eyed, Hermione and Arielle. Hermione knew that look well; he was deciding if they were adequate for the task he had in mind. Apparently they were.

"I need you two to watch him for the afternoon. You know what to do if the need arises. I'll make sure you're excused from classes." And with that, he exited his chambers, heading off to the class he had to teach.

Hermione looked back at Arielle; she still hadn't answered her question. Hermione crossed her arms, waiting.

Arielle sighed; she knew Hermione wasn't giving up this time. "Well, let's start at the beginning then." She ran a hand through her hair, "Lysander found out who my parents were."

"He did?" Hermione couldn't quite believe it. Arielle had basically been found by Lysander on the doorstep of The Lodge sixteen years ago. The Lodge was home to the Australian Unknown League, within which both Arielle and Hermione had grown up. No one knew where she had come from or how she had got there.

"My mother was a lady called Elaena," here she paused, apparently battling to get the next words out, "My father was Lucius Malfoy"

Hermione blinked. She really shouldn't be surprised by things like this anymore. "So, Draco's your _half-brother_?"

Arielle nodded, "But Lucius was married to my mother before Narcissa, which makes me the true Malfoy heir."

Hermione was confused, "But how did that happen? Draco's less than a year younger than you."

"My mother was an Unknowable. She and Lucius met in Scotland, where she was living at the time. When Lucius met her, he fell for her and assumed she was a pureblood because she was so talented with magic. From what Lysander found out, Lucius was already engaged to Narcissa at the time, but that didn't stop him for secretly marrying my mother. They were married for about half a year before my mother fell pregnant with me.

As soon as my mother found out, she knew she'd have to tell Lucius about The Unknown. I'm not sure about the specifics, but somewhere in the story he found out that she wasn't a pureblood and immediately divorced her, threatening to kill her if she ever came near him again."

Hermione frowned, "That's a bit of an over-reaction isn't it?"

"That's Lucius's style," Arielle replied dryly, "Anyway, Lucius returned to England and married Narcissa about a month after Elaena found out she was pregnant, and Elaena went into hiding until I was born. Draco was born merely four months after me."

"Does Draco know?" Hermione whispered

"No," Arielle shuddered at the thought of him finding out.

"But he'll realise," Hermione insisted, "When he turns seventeen he'll realise he's not the Malfoy heir"

Arielle laughed an empty and bitter laugh, "We needn't worry about that," Hermione was about to ask her what she meant, but Arielle cut her off, "My mother was known among the Unknowables as the Dark Lady."

"The Dark Lady?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. She'd heard rumours about the Dark Lady, a lady so silent and invisible you couldn't tell if she was right beside you unless she chose to reveal herself to you. A lady so shrouded in darkness that she rivalled the Dark Lord when it came to the Dark Arts. No wonder Lucius had fallen for her.

"Yes," Arielle confirmed, "But that's not the half of it," she sighed, taking a moment before continuing. "You remember Merope Gaunt and her infatuation with Tom Riddle?"

"Of course," Hermione had been told the complete sordid story of the Dark Lord's past before coming to Hogwarts in order to better protect Harry.

"Then you remember she was completely obsessed with him, naming her only son after him." Arielle ran her fingers through her hair. "What almost nobody knows, is that Tom Riddle had a twin sister."

"_Merlin,"_ Hermione whispered in shock.

"Nobody knows, because Merope abandoned her daughter in favour of her son. The girl was found by some muggles in an empty work shed and taken in by them, but much like her brother, she was unusually talented at magic, a fact which wouldn't have gone unnoticed by the muggles had she stayed with them. So, the Unknown stepped in, and she was taken to Scotland and brought up as an Unknowable.

"Elaena," Hermione whispered, "Eleana was Tom Riddle's twin. Your mother..." She trailed off as Arielle abruptly stood and walked to stand in front of the fire. Hugging herself, she stared blankly into the flames.

"Yes," She confirmed, "and that makes me Lord Voldemort's niece"

***


End file.
